We Called Each Other Comrade: Charles H. Kerr & Company, Radical Publishers

by Allen Ruff, Paul Buhle (Foreword)

Featuring a new foreword and comprehensive bibliography of all titles published by Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, this updated record chronicles the history of the most significant translator, publisher, and distributor of left-wing literature in the United States history. These pioneers of the publishing world fought battles in court and presented unpopular ideas so that great new literary, scientific, and historical thought could be expressed and propagated. The Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company was one of the forefathers of this type of publishing house, and this book demonstrates the great works they produced ties into many of the great aspects of social movements from the 20th century up through the present day.

342 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[David Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent, inspiring history of a radical publishing house that has now lasted over 100 years. You get the ins and outs of the struggles between American socialists, anarchists, and syndicalists, and the government. Trust me, it is not boring. It was a unique time, when there was a world to be won. My only quibble with the book is that it has numerous typos that should have been caught.

[brinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish this book had visual scans of the ISR or book covers or anything, alas I learned about an interesting moment in history

[Nicole Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An indispensable account of the history of Charles Kerr, & Co., the most prolific publisher of socialist, communist, anarchist, and radical literature in the English-speaking world. Kerr & Co. were also responsible for the writing and publishing ISR - International Socialist Review, which has been a significant radical publication for the American Left.

I originally became familiar with the name "Charles H Kerr & Co." from a history of union organizing in Western Canada. I'd read that some company logging towns would sack and evict any workers caught with a Kerr title in their possession!

This is hardly a book that reads like a novel or similarly-structured popular history narrative, so don't approach it that way. Instead, we are looking at a painstakingly-compiled history of ledgers, letters, sales reports, meeting minutes, newspaper clippings, and other documents that tell the story of the Chicago-based press, and the people who helped it run it, sometimes for decades at a time.

Definitely of interest to anyone involved in radical publishing or radical history in America - the company supplied millions of readers over a lifespan of more than a century.

[Sam DiBella · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, clear, if not particularly exciting, account of the 19th–20th century Chicago socialist publisher. Its founder started as a Unitarian reformer and slowly swayed leftward under the influence of utopian/scientific socialism before the turn of the century. He exemplified a shift from avant-garde educating the masses to a rank-and-file–centered, working class media, where union organizing and political action were seen as supremely practical things. The company's connection to Bill Haywood and its popular proletarian periodicals kept it going, even as it tried to escape sectarian socialist conflict.

In the end, its anti-war stance, economic depression, and the active suppression of socialists in the 1910s and 1920s reduced the company and the socialist movement it depended on to shadows of their former selves. The company continued to exist up through the 1980s, stewarded by later activists.

[Zak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important history of this publishing group. Was slow at times for me, but it was so great to hear the origin of a publisher that I've read many books from about the Wobblies, dill pickle society, Chicago radicalism, etc. now I want to seek out their earlier offerings. Also, it reminded me of many parts of radical American history I had forgotten about.